I would say that with France gone, the competition is more open for the last 3 teams.
Yes, it was surprisingly one sided for a game which was supposedly the forestalled final. Reminded me of the half final against Germany in 2010.
Spain won the Euro League 2023, lost in 2025 the final only in the penalty shoot-out, and won the EC 2024. And beating France in such a confident manner is something. They are probably at the moment even better than in the years from 2008 to 2012.
I still hope for England, but Spain will make it.
A double disappointment for everyone who holds England dear (there are some here, if I am not mistaken): not only was the result disappointing, but the performance was also substandard. Up until the 1-0, everything was fine, a balanced match that could go either way, so when England scored, I thought they had one foot in the final. Only one foot, because as I have said before, the Argentines are like cats: they have seven lives. But what I saw afterwards surprised me: England retreated, stopped thinking about attacking, only about defending, and defended as eleven separate players, not as a team. And I am sorry to say it, but they got what they deserved.
I am not a fan of Argentine football, but their victory was well-deserved, tonight they were clearly the better team.
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Maybe 2030 for England. 
So, itâs Europe v South America in the Final. Not MbappĂ© v Messi as FIFA would have preferred - but Spain v Argentina. I expected the first semi-final to be a routine, one-sided affair; however, it was Spain who cruised to the Final. France were second best from the outset and looked a shadow of the team who brushed Morocco aside. Thatâs a very good tactical analysis by @scherpschutter. Deschamps doesnât get a second chance to emulate Vittorio Pozzo - the Italian commissario tecnico from 1934 & 1938 - but Scaloni may yet win two World Cups.
Once again, Argentina looked to be heading out; then, in a tactical blunder, England threw the match away. Instead of bringing on forwards to land the coup de grĂące; England, did the opposite: replacing goalscorer Gordon with Konsa, withdrawing to a 5-man defence, and inviting wave upon wave of Argentine attack. Retreating into a defensive block may work against Mexico or Norway, not against Argentina. The subsequent equaliser and defeat was inevitable. Scaloniâs changes won the match and Tuchelâs lost it.
There are just two occasions of a team scoring first in a World Cup semi-final but not reaching the Final in the 21st century - both of them are England (vs Croatia in 2018 and Argentina in 2026). And an even more pertinent stat: Argentina have never lost a World Cup semi-final - 6/6 (7/7 if you include the âfixâ v Peru in 1978). Love 'em or loathe 'em, theyâre just winners.
So much for keeping politics out of the football rivalry.
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Completely agree with everything you say there, Scherps.
The decision to sit back on our 18 yard line and let Argentina have the ball was unbelievable and led to the inevitable. Got what we deserved with that tactic and Argentina ultimately deserved their win.
I donât understand too much about soccer and only watched the second half but it was clear that this was Argentinaâs game. England walled up and did nothing much beyond that. Argentina had so many opportunities, it could have easily ended up 6:1
Sure. But I donât like their approach to the game: too many dirty tricks, no sportsmanship, always provoking and diving. But as I said: England beat themselves last night and Argentinaâs win was thoroughly deserved. And yes, they can play good football too. And you have to admire the willpower they have shown during this tournament. Many matches seemed to be going the wrong way for them, but they managed to turn it around every time. Faut le faire, like the French say.
One often uttered reason why England won only one title so far, and that I read often in the past decades after too early eliminations, and again now, is that the English players just have to play too many games, and that they are just too exhausted at the end of the season. And actually it seemed to me it was not the missing will but the missing condition they lacked in the last 30 min, they just were not longer able to run as much as Argentina did. For that Iâm less criticising that Tuchel substituted defensive, but that he did not bring more fresh players earlier, at the point when it became obvious that Argentina began to overpower them. Argentina had so many chances in the last 20 min that goals were inevitable.
And for that Argentina is really remarkable, even if they donât do much for the greater part of the game, in the last 20 min they suddenly attack with an enormous power and an incredible attacking frequency. And Messi seems to be then the deciding force.
Apart from that I donât like their brutish way of playing, and hope that Spain makes it.
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Right.
Iâve heard that before as well. Not sure if it was the case. For one thing, Messi got too much freedom, too much space, he wasnât even followed by an English player when he took position on the right. Thatâs asking for trouble. Messi is no longer as mobile as he used to be, but if you let him do his thing in all freedom, hardly bothered by anybody, youâre asking for big, big problems. That left foot is still remarkable. And his right foot isnât that bad either⊠Tuchel could have given at least one player the order to follow Messi wherever he went, like Berti Vogts did in 1974 with Cruijff; you canât let these type of players do what they wanna do in all freedom.
I blame Englandâs exit on the âJagger Curseâ. Why? Because, if Sir Mick is in attendance, England lose. The Stones frontman was there in St Etienne, when Beckham kicked out at Simeone; he was watching on in Bloemfontein, as Lampard struck Englandâs âghost equaliserâ; there in Moscow, to see Englandâs semi-final heartbreak; and looking on in disbelief during the late collapse in Atlanta. Granted, he was in Miami for the quarter-final, but that proved just a momentary lifting of the hex. In 2014 - after Englandâs worst World Cup in 56 years - Jagger switched allegiance to Brazil; and yes, you guessed it, was there in Belo Horizonte, to witness the Mineiraço (7-1 defeat to Germany). Brazilians dubbed him âpĂ© frioâ - which means jinx. 
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Nice word, hex. In Dutch we have the word âheksâ (pronounced exactly like hex), meaning witch. The origin of the word is not known, but some historians and linguists think it comes from an ancient Germanic term âhagasuzzaâ, consisting of âhagaâ (hedge or wood), and âsuzzaâ which would mean something like âintoxicationâ (in Dutch we have a verb, soezen, which means something like doze off, or dream away). Those witches often lived in the woods and brew all kinds of potions to intoxicate men. Maybe purely coincidence, but I have the feeling that Mick Jagger is more and more looking like an old woman, and yes, he might well be a heks. And maybe his musical potions, or just his presence, have intoxicated the English players. To the stake with that witch!
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What a difference a lack of pressure and an attack at all costs approach makes. The pointless 3rd place/Bronze final game finally gave us the spectacle we want from a World Cup. 2 good attacking teams going at it toe to toe and let the most goals win. In truth, despite the 4-0 half time scoreline that winner could easily and probably should have been France but who cares. A great spectacle and some great goals. No dark arts. No negative tactics. Just 2 good teams playing to their own strengths and the devil take the hindmost. Well done to both teams.
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Thatâs what i thought as well: No dirty tricks, no endless dives, no whining complaints about the refâs decisions, no reckless tackles, what a relief, what a joy to watch this game.
And now we know how good plyers like Rice, Bellingham, Mbappé, Olisé etc. really are when they are not constantly being pulled, tackled, harassed and God knows what.
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Congratulations to Spain for a well-deserved second title. Argentina played for penalties from the outset and offered absolutely nothing. In fact, they were fortunate not to be reduced to 9 men, although the vile Paredes was sent off after the final whistle. It all seemed reminiscent of the equally dreadful 1990 World Cup Final - the last time Argentina were defending their title - and once again they lost with no dignity or honour.
Not satisfied with expanding the World Cup beyond avarice to 48 teams, Infantino is now "examining and discussingâ the possibility of a 64-team tournament. Now, this plan seemed inevitable: it went from 16 to 24, and so on at regular intervals. However, the intent is to increase to 64 teams at the earliest opportunity; presumably for more money and power, as all the confederations (with the exception of UEFA) are in bed with FIFA and arenât going to kill the golden goose.
So then, a deserved winner.
It was not a great final, for such Argentina did not enough to win, or were not able to do so, but the way Spain dominated this game and the half final, that was done with a stunning brilliance. They only failed to score much earlier. They should have won with 3:0 before the extra time. But winning important games with 1:0 despite being predominant most of the time seems to be part of their winning DNA.
Also interesting that Argentina after being behind, suddenly were in the last minutes able, and even with one player less, to force Spain onto the defensive. And only then were able to generate chances for a goal.
Indeed odd, but I think Spain helped them by leaning back. Itâs an automatic reaction: you take the lead after a heroic fight, and then you start leaning back, to defend your lead. The same thing happened to Spain against Portugal: Portugal had not one good occasion in 88 minutes, Spain scored, started to lean back, and all of a sudden Portugal was close to scoring the equalizer.
After Ferranâs late goal it seemed a good decision to lean back and defend the lead: they had dominated the entire game but encountered immense difficulties to create chances; by leaning back they created space for counters by quick players like Yamal, Williams or Ferran, and it worked, there were good counters by Williams and Ferran (but Williams somehow messed up and Ferran scored in offside position), but itâs also a dangerous tactic against a team like Argentina, Lionel Messiâs left foot alone can hurt you (and almost did).
Anyway, I think weâll have to live with Spain dominating European and world football in the near future. France may have the best attack, but the Spanish collective is simply stronger and teams like England, Germany, Netherlands, etc. have a mountain to climb if they want to compete with this Spanish team. Players like Yamal, Pedri, Williams, Gavi and Cubarsi are all in their early twenties, so they can go on for years, and probably will get even better. And the next world cup is held in Portugal, Morocco and ⊠yes, Spain. Who is going to stop them in their own backyard?